


sing the anthem of the angels

by idrilhadhafang



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Angst with a Happy Ending, Averted Character Death, Awesome Leia Organa, Illnesses, Knight Poe Dameron, M/M, Offscreen character death, Prince Ben Solo, Slow Burn, Soul Bond, with some medieval elements
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-10
Updated: 2020-06-10
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:54:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24634882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idrilhadhafang/pseuds/idrilhadhafang
Summary: Prince Ben forms a bond with Sir Poe Dameron to save him from death. It has interesting consequences.
Relationships: Poe Dameron/Ben Solo, Poe Dameron/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Kudos: 3
Collections: The Darkpilot Aquarium





	1. Revival

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AquaWolfGirl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AquaWolfGirl/gifts).



> Disclaimer: I own nothing. 
> 
> Author’s Notes: Based on this prompt Aqua gave me: 
> 
> “ In some medieval-inspired fantasy world, soulbonds are usually created for marriage and for the most committed lovers, because it latches one's life force to the other until it is time for both to go. This prevents premature death of one bondmate in a lot of cases, but it's not to be used unwisely and connects the two in a very intimate sense that can never be broken, so people need to be absolutely sure that they love who they're with. Ben gives up his ability to bond with anyone else for Poe, who's fallen ill. They've never been in love, but Ben can't let his best friend die.”
> 
> I hope you like it, Aqua! Title from “Anthem of the Angels” by Breaking Benjamin.

“How is he?”

Prince Ben stood outside the bedchamber of Sir Poe, who was already lying in there, ill. Ill. The thought was too horrible to believe. After all, he had a feeling that God Himself was angry with the kingdom of Alderaan for some reason or another (how had they trespassed? That was the question), but the idea of Poe himself falling ill...it was unthinkable. Poe had done nothing wrong. 

Queen Leia looked grim. “He’s wavering. I know this much.”

”Wavering?” Ben said, his voice trembling if only slightly. “Will he survive the night?”

The look on his mother’s face said just about everything. Everything that Ben needed to understand. There was a real possibility that Poe (Poe, who was supposed to be invincible, who was supposed to win) would not survive the night. 

”There must be a way to save him,” Ben said. “Medicine, anything!”

Leia sighed. “There is one. But I do not know if it should be attempted.”

”If?” Ben said. “Poe means something to you, does he not?”

”Of course he does!” Leia said, sounding frustrated. “He’s the son of someone who was like my sister. But I fear for you as well. Should you use this...there is no turning back.” A beat. “It doomed both your grandparents. I fear that you may yet suffer the same fate.”

Ben knew, of course. The story of Princess Padme and Sir Anakin, and their forbidden affair. They’d been Bonded, and when Anakin had sacrificed himself to protect his family, Padme had died with him. It was something that was an old wound for Queen Leia, the reason that though she and King Han were married, it had taken them a while to Bond. 

Leia continued. “You’re taking a terrible risk,” she said. “Should Poe’s life be in danger, so will yours. And...you don’t just Bond with anyone."

”I know.” Ben’s voice wavered. Even trying to think of a life without Poe in it was scarcely worth thinking about. A life without his friendship, his laughter. “But I love him. Like a comrade. I cannot let him die, Mother; not if it is at all possible to save him!”

Leia was silent for a while. Then, “I would be lying if I said I wasn’t frightened for you, Ben. But I am also proud to have raised someone who would save their friend.”

Ben smiled. He could feel the tears falling, though, much like rain. 

Poe was wavering. Ben could see it if not feel it — it was like his life force wavered on the edge of a knife, but Ben knew he was doing the right thing, saving him. The very best. 

”Ben,” Poe rasped. It was rare that Poe called Ben by anything other than his name; they were truly that close. Some would have called it impertinent. Ben thought there was nothing wrong with it. 

“I’m here,” Ben said. “We made an agreement, Mother and I. I’m...bonding with you.”

”You don’t have to do this for me,” Poe said. “I am...nobody. Surely you couldn’t...?”

”Sir Dameron, you are the most important man that God could have put upon this Earth,” Ben insisted. “How can you say you’re nobody? You are my friend. My dearest friend.”

Queen Leia smiled faintly. “You still have much of this kingdom to protect, Poe,” she said. “And many battles left in you.”

”Then I’ll do it for you both.”

***

It was Leia who conducted the bonding. Of sorts. Even as Poe sat up, no signs of illness in him, healthy and well, Ben could have all but cried with joy. It had worked. Truly. 

”Ben...” Poe murmured. Ben had never been happier to hear his name than when it came from Poe’s lips. 

”I can hear you,” Ben said. “Truly hear you.”

”What do you hear?”

”Beauty. Much of it,” Ben said. “Even your mind...” He knew that Poe was kind-hearted and he envied his beauty and charm (Ben was not blessed with good looks and charm), but even his mind — it was like stepping into a sunny clearing. 

”So is yours,” Poe said. “You really were scared for me?”

”We both were,” Ben said. 

”I’m not a prince or a duke — ”

“Does that mean I should not have been scared for you?” Ben said. “All life is important, Poe. You are no exception.”

Silence. That terror that Ben had felt — it had almost been more for a Bond mate than anything else. Same-sex Bond mates were not seen as unusual, but Poe...he was more like a dear friend, wasn’t he? 

”You both should rest,” Leia said. “It’s been exhausting, no doubt, for us all.” A beat. “And be careful, both of you. There is no turning back after such things.”

She left. 

”Ben...the only question I have is this: are you in love with me?” Poe asked. 

Ben paused. He could not say he had ever been in love. After hearing of his grandparents’ doomed tale, he had no desire to replicate it. To be like his grandfather — a man who had been kind and devoted, but also brutal. 

”I doubt only romantic love has to apply,” Ben said. “You are important to me, Poe. And we both should sleep.”

It was an odd sensation, feeling Poe’s clear, sunny mind touching Ben’s own. That was another thing he envied Poe for: his hope and belief and faith and love for people, in the sense that he would sacrifice himself for the stranger he met yesterday. 

Ben only hoped he knew he had a best friend who would sacrifice everything for him in turn. 


	2. Dust to Dust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Burials are performed, and questions are asked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing.

The plague lifted. Ben supposed that he should be grateful, in a way. That the plague had passed over them. Instead, he couldn’t help but feel a stab of guilt. Not that he regretted saving Poe, but he could have saved more. He was a prince, a prince with magical abilities, and he couldn’t save everyone else. There were others who had fallen to the plague, including children...

The visions he’d seen had tempted him with the idea of becoming all-powerful, of saving everyone. Even though Ben knew, logically, that that wasn’t possible. 

There were too many bodies. They couldn’t perform the traditional Last Rites, not for all of them. Even that knowledge was a painful truth to come to terms with. 

”You’re troubled,” Poe said to him, after. “Is everything well?”

”I am afraid not,” Ben said. “I admit I wish I could have saved more.”

”You don’t have to be all-powerful.”

”Shouldn’t I be, though?” Ben protested. “After all...I am a prince. A prince who can use magic. A prince who’s the most powerful magician in years, if my uncle is to be believed...and I can’t save everyone?”

He faltered. It sounded foolhardy, grandiose to even say, but it was a fear that haunted him at times. The idea that, pure and simply, he was not strong enough. 

”I know it sounds arrogant,” Ben said. “But it is more...I feel like I am not good enough.”

”Who told you that?” Poe said. 

”No one. I merely fear it.”

Poe nodded. “There’s so much uncertainty in your mind,” he said. “Uncertainty. And loneliness. Has it always been this way?”

”It has.”

”You have me,” Poe said, and Ben did not know why that statement, which should have simply been a fact, made his heart begin to race. 

***

* * *

Dear Tai, 

I know I have not been keeping up with my letters as I should; the plague itself was a stressful time, though I doubt that my worries can compare to the grief and pain of those who lost those they loved. 

I write to you because I have been curious about something — and perhaps worried. You were my close confidant at King Luke’s castle, and you would know what to do. I trust you full well. 

I have Bonded with Sir Poe. I am not in love with him; after the experiences my grandparents had and the effect it had on Mother, the idea is, truly, frightening. I could not, however, let him die. Not if it was possible to save him. It is not simply because he is my friend (you and he are different people, but you have the same kindness and honor), but because he is simply a good man. He defends Alderaan, and he never so much as asks for thanks. I see others who degrade him and think little of him and I wish that they would see what is so wonderful about him, as I do. 

And thoughts like that...I am afraid, Tai. Afraid that my feelings may not entirely be platonic. As of late, I feel like a bird pushed from its nest and learning how to fly too early. You would know what to do, for you have always been the wiser one. What do you believe? 

My warmest regards, 

Prince Ben Organa 

Ben wouldn’t deny that he was surprised at some of the words he had written. Some of the things he had listed. He had been protective of Poe in the past, even when other less charitable people had sneered about him winning “the prince’s favor". It did not matter what they thought. Poe still meant so much to Ben. He did not know if he thought of him as more than a friend, but nonetheless, he did not deny he would defend Poe, no matter what it took. 


	3. Ride With Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The two go horseback riding together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing.

“You were troubled.”

It was in the prince’s bedchamber that the two spoke. Others would most likely suspect something, but it was the best way to have a conversation without others overhearing. 

”I suppose I was,” Ben said. “I...was writing a letter to Tai.” There was no use really lying to Poe, not when they were Bonded. 

”Do you regret Bonding with me?”

”No,” Ben said. “Please, Poe, don’t say things that are so...ridiculous. I did it to save your life.”

”Right.” Poe sighed. “It is complicated. There have been people who have been healed of the plague and...there are times when I wish...” He trailed off. He didn’t have to say anything, though. Ben could see images there. Images of people wondering what favor Poe carried with the prince. 

"If it were up to me,” Ben said, “I’d find a way to punish everyone who said a bad word about you.”

Poe laughed. “Ben...that will not be necessary.”

”Of course it is. You could say we’re both lonely. Together.”

Ben was intending to brush his hand over Poe’s shoulder to comfort him. The brief contact of skin was warmer than he thought it would be. 

”You feel it?” Poe said. 

”It may be the Bond,” Ben said. “All of it." He couldn’t be ready to fall in love with Poe, and even if he was, how would he know that Poe reciprocated?

Maybe the Bond would tell him. Maybe. 

***

Heading out the next morning was a relief, Ben on his horse Silencer, Poe on his horse Bartholomew. There was something tender in Poe’s gestures towards Bartholomew where it was all too clear that he had missed his horse, and riding him. “Old friend”, he called him. 

They rode, their horses walking through the forest even as the two of them talked. Talking about small things, as they would have done before the Bond. They could pretend, if only for a moment, that nothing had changed. They could pretend all was well, and their feelings weren’t in flux. 

”The view is beautiful,” Poe said, even as they rode over branches, through green. “I never thought it would be so pleasing to the eye.”

Ben nodded. He could concentrate on that. Never mind that Poe was also pleasing to the eye. Pleasing enough to make Ben envy him.

Soft black hair, curly and smooth. Brown eyes. Olive, smooth skin, and a smile that was radiant and dashing. Ben knew that no one would want to marry him, but Poe...there were people who no doubt would swoon at the thought of him wooing them. 

"You do not need to be jealous,” Poe said. “I can say you have grown into your looks, Ben. People would no doubt come from miles to see you.”

Ben snorted. “Not me.”

”You are the prince. And more than beautiful, you’re an uncommonly kind person.”

”I am not perfect.”

”You think I am?” Poe said. “I never could be.” Then, “Are you well, Ben?”

”I suppose the past events have been exhausting.”

Poe nodded. “Then ride with me. Distract yourself.”

Ben supposed he couldn’t ignore an invitation from Sir Poe Dameron. 


End file.
